Envelop and fastener therefor.



M.-H. FLAHERTY BNVELOP AND FASTBNBB THEREFOR. APPLYIOATION FILED NOV. 19, 1913.

Patented Sept; 1, 1914.

2 MHJ laheri THE NORRIS PETERS 60.. PHOTO-LI rHo. WASHINGTON. D, (l

MICHAEL H. FLAHERTY, orGm n-nnvILLE, rENiNs Lv NIAJ ENVELOP AND rasainnnnf rnnnnron.

. Q Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed November 19,1 13. ;Seria1No. 80 1 ,$22.

To all whom, it may concern?" Be it known that 1, MICHAEL H. FLAH- 'ERT'Y, a citizen of the United States, re-

siding at Girardville, in the countyof Schuylkill and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new; and useful Improve ments in Envelope and Fasteners Therefor; and I do hereby declare the following L to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enabl e others'skilled in the art "to which it appertains to make and use the samep v My invention relates to new and useful improvements in envelops and fasteners and 15 more particularly ftoa fastener which will effectually. seal the envelop so that' unauthorized persons cannot open or unseal the envelop without'fdestroying the same.

An important'object of the invention resides in the provision of a device such as above described which provides for the sealing of an envelop in a reliable and effective manner so that any attempt by unauthorized persons to open or unseal the envelop may be detected and that jmakesit necessary to destroy the envelop to remove the contents thereof. I A further object of importance is to provide a comparativelysimple and inexpensive fastener for an envelopthatconsists of few parts'is reliable andeificient in its operation and which ische'ap to manufacture.

Th'e above and additional objects are accomplished by'such means as are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, described in the following specification and then more particularly pointed out in the claim which is appended hereto and forms a part ofthis application.

WVith reference I have illustrated the preferred embodiment of my invention as it is reduced to practice, and throughout the several views of which, similar reference numerals designate corresponding parts: Figure 1 is a top plane view illustrating the device in assembled operative position, Fig. 2 is a bottom plane view illustrating the manner of securing the fastener to the envelop, Fig. 3 is asectional view taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1 illustrating the fastener in assembled position, Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view of one of the members of the fastener, and Fig. 5 is a sectional view of a slightly modified form of my fastener wherein the two to the drawings, wherein Patente'd Sept. 1;, 1914'.

elements comprising the fastener are screw 5 Referring more particularly to the drawings forminga part ofthisspecificationand in which like numerals are employed to designate corresponding parts, the numeral l .d esignates as an entirety anenvelop conslsting ofthe usual front and rearflaps 2 and 3,.end flaps 4: and 5 and sealing tongue i V 6. Securedto one of the end flaps of the envelop after a manner which willbe later more fully described is the fastener of my improved construction that consistsof 'a cylindrical tube 7 that is formed by rolling a strip of rectangular and suitable metal to form a hollow cylinder. This tube 7 in being formed as above described is resilient and is provided with a plurality-of malle able securing tongues 8 that are formed adjacent one end thereof by slitting the tube longitudinally. Adjacent the other end of the tube is' an annular'g'roove 9' for a I purpose whichwillbe later more fully. disclosed. This tube 7 is secured to one of the end flaps l and '5 by inserting the tubes therethrough and bending the malleable tongues 8 to lie fiat against the 'faceof the flap and in aplane at right angles to the body portion of the tube. In forming this tube'7 the ends of theplate of which thetube is constructed are disposedin over-x lapping engagement whereby the slidingof the tube is permitted as it'is preferably constructed of suitable spring metal. f 1

"As a -means for securing theflaps of the envelop 1, that is, sealing the envelop there .1 has been provideda sleeve o'fthe cylindrical form designated 10. 'Thissleeve 10 is I provided "at one terminal with.aplurality of malleable tongues 11 and is adapted to be mounted'over the tube 7 which is insertt ed through each ofythe end flaps 4 and 5,

front flap 3 and securing tongue 6 of the envelopl. The tongues 11 on the sleeve 10 are adapted to be bent to lie at right angles to the body portion and in engagement with the sealing fla 6 of theenvelop when the s device is in 100 ed position. I i

Formed adjacent the terminal of the sleeve 10 farthestremoved from" the tongues 11 is forms an inwardly extending rib or shoulder designatedl12. is adapted for enga ement with the groove 9 that is formed in the tube 7 and serves to This rib or shoulder 12 Q 105. an inwardly struck annular groove that lock the members "Z and 10 into engagement with each other and prevents unauthorized persons from opening the envelop without positively destroying the same. tate the placing of the sleeve 10 upon the tube 7 the tube 7 is pressed'so that the member. 10 may be placed thereon and the tube will spring open and the rib 12 will "move into engagement with the groove 9 thus the device is locked and cannot be tampered with by unauthorized persons for the purpose of gaining access to the interior. ofth'e envelop Without detection or destruction of the envelop. It will be apparent that there has been provided a fastening device for envelope which will effectually prevent the opening of envelope in a surreptitious manner and which may be cheaply manufactured and readily applied to envelope, particularly of the character hereinbefore described.

Referring particularly to Fig. 5 in which there has been illustrated a. slightly modi fiedform of my invention the tube 7' is prop tube, a plurality of bendable tongues formed integral with one end of the tube, said tube vided with a' plurality of screw threads while the sleeve 10 is provided with internal's'crew': threads adapted to engage the screw threads on the tube.

The construction of the modified form with the exception of the screw threads is identical with that of the preferred form of fastener as there is provided the locking rib and groove 9 and 12 in the modified form as well as in the preferred fornrfor the" purpose of locking the device in closed or locked position. This modified form is particularly desirable for use in-connection with large heavy envelopsadapted to contain heavy matter as it is more desirable to have the fastening means of the modified form for. the reason that the locking means pro vided is more rigid.

It will beapparent that the fastening means as hereinbefore described will pren s r p tm op mng o th nv lop a hey r dapt to be inser e hrough each f t e fl p f he e elop ex usiv of Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cent 3 Washington, 10. Q3.

To facilil the face flap and the destruction of the envelopji's; insured to gain access to the interior the o In reduction to practice, I have found that the form of my invention, illustrated in the drawings and referred to in the above description, as the preferred embodiment, is the most eflicient and practical; yet realizing that the conditions concurrent with the adoption of my device will necessarily vary, I desire to emphasize the fact that various minor changes in "details of construction, proportion and arrangement of parts may be resorted to, when required, without sacrificing any of the advantages of myinvention, as defined in the appended claim.

Having thus described my invention, what is claimed'is:-

The combination with an envelop of a fastener therefor adapted to be inserted through the several flaps of, an envelop, said fastener comprising a tubular member consisting of a single blank of spring metal having overlapping ends to provide a spring having an annular groove adjacent the end 1 thereof farthest removed from the tongues, f a locking sleeve adaptedto be mounted upon said'tubular. member and-ha ving an annular rib adjacent one end to fit within the groove .in said tube and'a plurality of bendable tongues formed integral with the inner end of said locking sleeve and arranged to be first named bendable tonguesbeing bent at right angles to the body portion and intoengagelnent with the inner face of the inneros f he nv lop flaps In testimony hereof I affin my signature i Pr sser e o We witiiessesl MICHAEL H. rLAnnnTY. Witn s s B. FRANK WAeNn,

s each, by addressing the Commissioner of lfatents,

b t n sn sementv e tt r time 1 of th outerm of th n l p fl ps, Said 

